Originally patented as a "food breaker" in 1932 by Cale Schneider, a cake breaker is a vintage kitchen tool that is also sometimes called an "angel food rake" or "angel food cutter." This tool resembles an oversized comb that is used to cut through delicate cakes without crushing the delicate sponge or creating crumbs.

Cutting an angel food cake — or any light, delicate cake like chiffon — is challenging, as even a sharp chef's knife or special cake cutter can compress, crumble, or deflate the cake. Serrated knives fare a little better, but tend to produce a lot of crumbs, while cake breakers easily "break" the cake into slices, leaving the dessert intact.

To use a cake breaker, slide the long tines into the cake while gently wiggling the tool back and forth, and the cake breaker will make even perforations, leaving slices that can be easily separated. While newly-manufactured cake breakers are hard to find, both simple and more complex vintage options are available online.